


The Eventual Meeting of Stiles Stilinski

by optimus_maximus



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, I don't, Spark Stiles Stilinski, Supernatural things are known, who knows what will happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-13 04:14:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5694328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/optimus_maximus/pseuds/optimus_maximus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Hale Pack meets Stiles one at a time and they have no idea they just met the <em>Spark Meiczysław Stilinski</em>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Liam

**Author's Note:**

> I have writers block and I'm emotionally unstable due to the last Teen Wolf episode so I decided to write an AU where everybody was happy and friends.  
> I'm not sure if I want sterek or steter whatev's I can decide later haha *insert crying emoji here*

Liam's waiting in front of the register. He was just trying to buy a simple comic book but-

"What did it feel like to change? Did the bite hurt? I heard of this one pack who- " This big guy - Tim? Tom? - goes on and on. He has Liam trapped at the checkout counter and Liam is crazy late for a pack meeting. Derek is going to kill him. Literally. Tear out Liam's throat with his teeth. He looks down at the comic in his hand. Hopefully, his execution will be quick; he'll even let Erica speak at his death ceremony. She'll say something touching, and somehow incredibly inappropriate, but she's pack and she'll kill him if he doesn't let her.

"Hey! Are you listening?" Tim/Tom has his arms crossed and is glaring down at Liam.

"I'm really really sorry, but I'm in a big hurry." Liam pleads. "I don't have the time to talk."

"Oh." Tim/Tom sneers. "You don't have time for a simple human, huh? Think you're better than me 'cause you're a were'?" Tim/Tom waves his arms around bringing the attention of everyone in the bookstore to the two of them.

"No! No, of course not. That's not what I meant." Liam tries to placate the man. He hears his phone beep with a new message. Shit. It's Derek's message alert. "I need to be at Hale House in a few-"

"What? Humans not good enough company?" Tim/Tom steps forward and pokes Liam's chest. Hard. "You fuc-"

"Yo, man. Calm the fuck down." The smell of atmosphere and electricity reaches his nose as a guy in a black apron suddenly appears next to them and casually slaps away Tim/Tom's hand with a gloved hand. Apron guy steps between them; surprisingly elegant despite the amount of flailing happening. Now Liam can't see Tim/Tom with apron guy's back blocking him. "You're bothering the other customers." 

"The fuck! Who the hell are you?" Tim/Tom steps up to the guy, towering nearly a foot over him and apron guy is tall. "Don't stick your nose somewhere it doesn't belong." He shoves apron guy's shoulder then apron guy is falling backwards. Liam nearly doesn't catch him, apron guy's limbs go everywhere and smacks Liam in the face. Thankfully, he has werewolf speed otherwise they'd both be on the floor. Apron guy simply straightens himself and clenches his gloved hands into fists repeatedly.

"Woah, asshole!" Apron guy's voice is steel. "Don't ever touch me again and if you would please. Get. Out. Right now. Just leave." Liam hears other customers whispering and sees them hiding behind bookshelves. A few even leave. Tim/Tom puffs out his chest and crosses his arms.

"You a were-lover? Bet you are. Bet you'd roll over and take anything from them." Tim/Tom looms over apron guy, noses nearly touching. "Move. Bitch. Before I call you're boss and have you fired." Liam notices apron guy's hands are shaking. 

Apron guy reeks of anxiety and he's drowning Liam in his terror, but despite that, apron guy is still standing up to Tim/Tom. It reminds Liam of Isaac's panic attacks and red hot anger pools low in his gut, ready to be set loose. Liam feels his heartbeat quicken and his temperature rise. Red clouds his sight and he feels the flex of his eyes flashing. He tries to rein back the change; he focuses on the pain as his claws dig into the palm of his hand. Just as he's about to launch himself at this asshole, apron guy crosses his arms, mimicking Tim/Tom's earlier stance.

"Listen, you ass." Apron guy speaking surprises Liam out of his near Rage. "Leave. Like, immediately. For the sake of my sanity, and your pathetic life, shut the fuck up and get out."

"Why should I? It's a free country, I can do and say whatever I want. Besides," Tim/Tom sneers, "what can you do?"

"You know what I can do? I'll call the sheriff, or as I like to call him ' _dad_ ', and have you arrested for assaulting his _only son_." He stands back; his body looking at ease. Not a tremor in his voice. "Your choice."

Liam leans out behind apron guy and looks at Tim/Tom, who looks like he just saw a ghost. Or found out he assaulted the _sheriff's only child_. In the distance, Liam hears the sound of sirens. 

"Oops. Too late." Apron guy leans against the counter and the smell of his relief floods the room. "Seems like today is you're lucky day." Tim/Tom's heartbeat spikes and the distress rolling off of him almost makes Liam feel sorry for the guy. Almost. Liam knows when Tim/Tom hears the sirens for himself when he flinches and looks about ready to faint.

Another message alert sounds from Liam's phone. He is going to be so late. And dead.

The sheriff strides in a minute later with a deputy tailing behind him and walks straight up to the three of them. The deputy follows closely behind him and sets his eyes on Liam. As soon as Liam meets the deputy's stare, he feels his eyes flash and sees the same in the deputy. The smell of ash and fire meets Liam's nose. The two nod at each other in acknowledgment then focus on the sheriff.

The sheriff glances at both Liam and Tim/Tom before settling on apron guy. "Stiles, what did you do?" 

"Wha- I didn't do anything, like, not a thing." Stiles flails. What kind of name is _Stiles Stilinski_?  
"Seriously, dad, I didn't start it this time!" 

"Alright. I'll deal with you later." Sheriff Stilinski turns to Liam and Tim/Tom. "What are your names?"

"Jim Pearson, sir." Tim/Tom, _Jim_ , answers. He's even paler, if that's possible.

"Liam Dunbar, sir." 

Sheriff Stilinski looks up abruptly. "Liam Dunbar? Were'?" Liam nods. "Okay, then... Pearson, can you tell me what happened here?"

"Uh, Sheriff?" Liam interrupts. "I need to call my alpha." 

"Alpha Hale? Yeah, okay, Stiles, take Mr. Dunbar here to the back." Sheriff Stilinski looks back to Liam. "And Dunbar, tell Alpha Hale I'll need to interview you which may take awhile." Liam nods as he pulls out his phone and glances at Stiles.

"Got it, daddy-o. This way." Stiles leads them to a small storage room with a couch pushed against an entire wall. The rest of the room is filled with boxes and stacks of books. The smell of electricity is stronger here. "Here it is. Do you need me to leave? Actually, my dad might want me to stay in here." He walks over to the couch and throws himself onto it. Stiles abruptly sits up and stares straight at Liam. "Hey, Liam, is it? How are you feeling?" His eyes are a weird color, and they stand out against his pale skin.

"Umm... Good, I guess. I've been better." Liam shrugs and pulls out his phone. Stiles hums in response and leans back onto the couch. Liam has three messages and one missed call, all from Derek. 

And here comes another call. Liam quickly answers the phone and hopes for the best.

"Liam." Derek speaks first. "You better have a good explanation as to why you are _not back yet_."

"Ahh, well. You see, I was at the book store, you know like I told you at the house, and there's this guy, Tim-"

"Jim." Stiles inputs.

"I mean Jim, and he was being really difficult and he started being mean after I told him I was in hurry - like those speciest humans who are super rude- anyway, he poked my chest and a guy who works here, he's wearing a black apron, steps between us and is like 'yo, calm down dude. You're bothering other people.' and Jim gets annoyed and shoves him. Literally pushes apron guy over and I caught him because werewolf speed. Then, apron guy tells Jim to leave, but Jim is an asshole, see, and calls him a bitch and threatens to have him fired, and apron guy is still telling Jim he needs to leave. Jim is like 'it's a free country. What can you do?' and turns out apron guy is the sheriffs son, so he's like 'Just leave before I call my dad and have you arrested for assault' and Tim- I mean Jim, is freaking out and ready to leave, but turns out someone called the police already. So, now I have to stay awhile to give a statement."

Derek is quiet when Liam finishes, obviously trying to take in the entire situation. The silence continues for a minute, then another minute, and Liam is worried the call dropped when Derek speaks.

"I'm headed over." Is the only thing he says before he ends the call.

"Oh shit." Liam falls onto the couch.

"You're alpha's coming?" 

"Yup."

"Is he mad?"

"Yes."

Apron guy pauses for moment. 

"At you?"

Liam hesitates.

"Probably... not."

"Cool." Apron guy looks at him. "I'm Stiles, by the way." 

"Liam. But I guess you know that already." 

Before Stiles can answer, there's a knock on the door then the deputy is peeking in. Both Liam and the deputy's eyes flash again.

"Hey, Stiles. It's you're turn." 

"Aww, Jordan. You don't believe it's my fault, right?" Stiles says as he gets off the couch flashing the man the most suspicious doe-eyes Liam has ever seen. "That guy was being a douche and I didn't even hit him."

"Sure, Stiles. And it's Deputy Parrish." The deputy answers and closes the door after Stiles. As they walk away, Liam hears Stiles teasing the deputy about his... "deputy-ness." 

"Stiles." The sheriff all but sighs. "Tell me what you think happened."

"I was in the back, getting an order for a customer, when I heard some of the customers talking about a man getting angry. I went out to look and I saw Jim jab his finger at Liam, so I stepped in and told the man to calm down because he was bothering the other customers. He got angry and shoved me. I told him to leave to which he responded with name calling and threats to have me fired. I told him to leave again, but he didn't listen, so I told him I would call the police if he didn't leave immediately. Then I noticed Liam do that thing that werewolves do when they hear something, so I took a guess that someone had called you." There's the brief sound of writing and what he assumes is Stiles' pounding heart. 

"Are you alright?" The sheriff speaks low.

"Fine, dad." Stiles says quickly. "I'm just going to shut down shop and head back to my place for the rest of the day."

"I'll stop by your place after my shift. You can leave now, if you want. I'll take Dunbar to the station." The sheriff raises his voice to normal. "Hey, Parrish, could you take Stiles home?"

"Yessir, Sheriff." Parrish answers.

"Dad, I'll be fine." Stiles whines. "You don't need to, Parrish." 

"I can ring Scott up right now, or Parrish can take you." The sheriff says.

"You wouldn't!" Stiles gasps. "Sorry to bother you Jordan."

"It's no trouble, Stiles." Parrish chuckles. There's shuffling then the door opens and the sheriff walks into the storage room. 

"I assume you heard all of that, so let's get going." Liam simply nods and follows the sheriff out. Walking through the shop, he sees the deputy standing at the counter watching Stiles put away money and moving things. He's asking the younger man if he needs help with a careful voice, like he's working with something delicate. Liam's walking outside before he hears Stiles answer, then he sees Derek pull into the parking lot before he jumps out of his car and walks briskly towards the two.

"Sheriff." Derek nods in greeting.

"Alpha Hale. I'm just taking Liam down to the station for his statement."

"Would it be alright if I took him?" Derek asks. Sheriff Stilinski looks to Liam then back to Derek. 

"Alright. I'll follow you guys over." 

They both nod at each other and Liam's walking to Derek's car to leave for the police department. Today was supposed to be a simple day. He woke up at a decent time, went on a run, and just wanted to get a gift for Aiden. Why does this always happen to him? And always when Aiden is involved. They reach the station and sign-in at the front desk. The sheriff leads them to his office and shuts the door.

"You're turn Mr. Dunbar." He walks around his desks and sits. "Tell me what happened." Liam looks to Derek before starting on his story.

"Well, I was in the bookshop to buy a gift for a packmate and was waiting in line when, uh, Jim walked up to me. He'd recognized me from an interview or something and was asking super invasive questions and I told him I was in a hurry to get back to the Hale House. Jim, for some reason, assumed I was implying humans are lesser creatures and got angry. He poked me here," he points to his chest, "and was about to start shouting when Stiles stepped between us and asked the guy to calm down because he was bothering people." Liam remembers smelling Stiles' fear. "Jim then shoved Stiles making him to fall over, but I caught him, and Stiles... smelled terrified." He turns to Derek.

"You know when Isaac had panic attacks? Stiles smelled like Isaac did right before an attack happened. But he just told Jim to leave. Jim called Stiles a few names and threatened to have him fired, and Stiles just told him to leave again. Jim still doesn't leave because apparently 'it's a free country and he can do whatever he wants' and Stiles tells him he'll call the Sheriff, his dad, and have him arrested. Which is when I heard the sirens, and then you come in." Liam finishes. He looks up to the sheriff who isn't looking either of the 'wolves, but out the window. 

"Thank you, Liam." The sheriff stands and walks around the desk. "That's all I'll need for now. If I have anymore questions I'll give your alpha a call. Sorry for taking up your time, Alpha Hale." He gives both their hands strong shake and opens his office door waving them through. 

"Liam, if you ever see the sheriffs son again thank him." Derek whispers as they walk through the station.

"What for?" Liam asks.

"You helping him just saved us a whole lot of trouble." 

As their leaving the station, Liam remembers he didn't get Aiden a gift. Shit.


	2. Ethan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> meh. Ethan?

Ethan wakes up to the sound of Aiden and Cora arguing, _again_. For the hundredth time this week. And it's only Sunday. He rolls over in his bed and thinks about the chances of getting away with murder. Before his plans have any time to grow, there's a loud crash down the stairs and Erica is yelling that breakfast is ready "so get your asses down here before I poison it with wolfsbane." 

She's probably joking. But then again, probably not, so Ethan pulls on some sweatpants and strolls to the kitchen. 

Derek, Peter, and Jackson are already sitting at the table, showered and dressed for the day. Crazy people, it's only nine o'clock. Ethan ignores everybody as he slowly makes his way to the coffee machine. He's stirring in a bit of sugar and listens as the rest of the pack loudly make their entrance. Nearly everybody is seated by the time he gets to his seat, except Isaac and Malia. Those two wonder in last like zombies.

He's stacking pancakes on his plate when he notices Erica trying not to laugh but failing. She looks at Ethan before pointedly looking at Liam and Ethan nearly breaks his plate while trying to stab a pancake. On Liam's forehead is a drawing of a dick. Liam, oblivious as always, is recounting his dramatic incident to Boyd and missing the way he's smiling. Boyd is full out smiling. How is he missing this? It's all highly suspicious. If Liam doesn't figure it out soon, he deserves it.

When everyone is finally seated, Derek gives an announcement about a pack that's passing through and a few things he'd like to be done by the time they arrive- border watch, inform the sheriff, "don't do anything stupid, you're not children", etc.- then lets them eat. 

"So, Liam," Aiden starts. "Tell me about your time with the sheriff." Erica glares at Aiden, but Liam seems more than happy to share his story again. It's all he's been talking about since the day it happened, nearly two weeks ago. _Two weeks_ , for christ's sakes.

"Sure, Ethan-" Liam says.

"Aiden." Ethan corrects, used to the mistake.

"-Aiden. When I went to the bookstore, there was this mean dude being rude and making me late. And tries to pick a fight but then the guy who works there, I can't remember his name, stopped him and told him to leave. I think the mean dude's name is Tim, anyway, he got angry and shoved him over, and threatened to have him fired. It was so annoying; I could've thrown this guy out the window-"

"No hurting humans." Derek says. Peter scoffs.

"-but obviously I couldn't and the worker stood up to him, and he smelled so scared. Worker dude was shaking but still stood up to Tim, who is huge. Yeah, Tim was all 'what can you do?' and Worker dude was like 'Oh, I'll just call the sheriff, or my father, and have you arrested for assaulting his only son' and Tim freaked out. He paled and looked like he was going to throw up any second. Then I heard the sirens and the sheriff walked in." Liam stuffs pancakes in his mouth. "It was awesome."

"Yeah, cool. Amazing." Erica gives Cora a look and they start laughing. That wasn't at all suspicious or obvious. "The sheriff's son sounds amazing. Huh, Liam?"

"He sounds like a decent guy. How boring." Peter inputs, gracefully eating a bagel.

Liam glares at Peter then turns to Erica to agree full-heartedly and begins more praises of his mysterious savior. Ethan can only listen for a few minutes before he's had enough. He quickly cleans his plate of food and leaves before he can hear any more about the sheriff's son. As he's walking up the stairs, Jackson reminds Ethan it's his turn to go grocery shopping. They eat a lot so it needs to be done every week and it's boring as hell. Especially when he doesn't have pleasant company. 

He might as well get it over with. He showered the night before so he changes into a pair of jeans and a Henley before heading downstairs. 

"I'm going shopping, anyone need anything?" He yells out. The only response he gets is Liam's loud wail from upstairs. 

"WHAT THE HELL?" Liam screams. "Aiden did you do this?! I said I was sorry!" He hears stomping feet and the sounds of someone being tackled and decides to leave before he gets dragged in to it. Ethan grabs the shopping list, his helmet, and sprints out.

It's only ten on a Sunday so the store is mostly empty when Ethan gets there. Inside, he unfolds the list, which is turns out to be two pages, and grabs a cart. While he's looking for the only brand of marshmallow cereal Malia will eat, the smell of electricity floats through the aisle and mixes deliciously with the sweet scent of the cereal. He looks for the source but Ethan is the only person in this aisle. He listens for heartbeats and adds up a total of six in the store. The closest one is on the other side of Ethan's aisle and a little faster than normal; the man is muttering about demanding friends and gross PDA.

Ethan decides he doesn't care so he gets back to his shopping. He finally finds the stupid cereal and heads for the meat section when the electricity smell is suddenly everywhere. Then he's being ran into and watches as the guy falls on his ass, spilling his items all over the floor.

The guy, or kid, he looks at most eighteen, lets out a surprised grunt and sighs dramatically.

"Of course." The kid is a tangle of limbs as he gathers his stuff. "Of fucking course, I would drop all of it." He curses a little more as he stands gripping his boxes of... condoms haphazardly in his arms.  
"Sorry, dude. Didn't see you coming." He pauses as he shuffles his items a bit then looks up at Ethan and chokes out a loud laugh.

"Oh my god!" He gasps. "Your face!" He drops his boxes again and wraps his arms around his stomach as he lets out another loud round of laughter. "And I said _'I didn't see you coming'_." He barely gets out. "And- and I'm holding condoms!"

Ethan doesn't know what's happening, but it's weird. He slowly begins to back away from the stranger and leave.

"Wait!" The kid says. "Wait, sorry. Sorry! I just didn't expect-" He looks up at Ethan again and takes a deep breath. "There's a dick on your face. Ejaculating." The kid says gravely. 

"What?" Ethan jerks his phone out of his pocket and opens the camera. Oh my god. His entire face has a large _Sharpie_ drawing of a dick. Balls and everything. He's at a fucking grocery store with a fucking dick on his face. What the hell? It was probably fucking Aiden.

He's going to kill him.

"I'm going to kill him." Ethan growls. He smells ozone and the tang of anxiety and remembers he has company. The kid is still flushed from his laughing session and obviously still trying to keep it in.

"I know this is, like, embarrassing or whatever, but just think," he takes a deep breath, "I made the perfect joke completely on accident."

Ethan stops and stares in disbelief at the other guy. The kid's an idiot. 

"I have a penis on my face." Ethan says. 

"Yes. Yes you do." The kid says. "Oh! Stay." He spins around and sprints down an aisle. 

How did his life come to this? Standing next to a pile of condoms with a drawing of genitals on his face. He hopes no one sees him like this. It'd be an embarrassment to the pack and Derek just told them not to do anything stupid. 

Ethan sighs and looks for a place to hide. Derek should never place expectations on them. Ethan's about to move and hide when he hears the kid exclaim in excitement and pop out from the aisle.

"I found it! Found it! Here, follow me." The kid grabs Ethan's arm at the elbow, shocking him. "Ah, sorry," the guy lets go, "I must be static-y. Just leave your stuff there." The sharp scent of nervousness spikes again and the kid is hurrying away. "I have a lot of experience with unexpected facial art in various forms of permanent mediums. One time, before I knew how clean it off effectively, I had bright pink cat whiskers and a unibrow for almost a week. Luckily, it was during spring break, or I wouldn't have been able to show my face at school and would've probably moved to the mountains." 

The kid continues to ramble on while he leads Ethan to the back. They're headed toward an employees only door and the kid glances at Ethan before pushing through and maneuvering them through a jungle of stacked cardboard boxes. It smells like meat and chemicals back here and they seem to be the only ones there. They take a sharp turn and squeeze between two metal shelves and find themselves standing in a break room. To the right, there's a circular table surrounded by three plastic chairs all pushed into the corner. Next to that there's a kitchenette with a huge coffee machine taking up counter space. There's a door in the opposite corner of the room that, based on the smell, leads to a restroom.

"Alright." The kid abruptly turns and looks up at Ethan. "The restroom is through there, and it's so much cleaner than the public one." He throws the wipe things he brought at Ethan. "Take these and I'll just wait out here."

Ethan stands there confused. "You didn't pay for these."

"Yeah, I know." The kid pulls out a chair and falls into it. "I'll pay for it later, so go." He makes a _shoo-ing_ motion with one hand and pulls out his phone with the other.

Okay. This is weird. Ethan hesitantly moves to the restroom, leaving the door open. He tears open the wipes package and pulls one out. He doubts it'll work, but he might as well try it out. He rubs at his forehead and surprisingly, the marks are easily removed. 

Fucking Aiden. So Ethan didn't get Aiden a gift for their birthday; they're in their twenties, and Aiden has enough money to get whatever he wants. Why should Ethan waste his money on a gift that will be thrown away? 

Ethan's thinking up plans for revenge when he hears music.

_Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here's my number, so call me maybe..._

The kid lets out a wail and Ethan sees him juggle his phone before the kid finally gets a hold of it and answers.

The kid's voice is high-pitched and nervous when he answers. "Hey, Scotty. How you doing?" The kid holds the phone away from his ear as "Scotty's" voice filters through loudly. 

"Stiles! Where are you?"

"Ahh, well, you see, I got caught up in something while I was-"

"Are you okay? Do you want me to come get you?"

"What!? No, no, I'm fine. Seriously, there was just this guy who-"

"I'm coming."

"No, you don't ne- Scotty. Scott!" _Stiles_ looks at his phone in disbelief. "He hung up on me... and he's headed over." He hurries over to Ethan with a wave of electricity and ozone. 

"Uh, hey... guy? Are you almost finished?"

"Ethan." He looks back to the mirror and wipes the last of the Sharpie off. He used half of the package, but it worked.

"Ethan? Who-"

"My name's Ethan, not guy. Here" Ethan tosses the wipes to Stiles who fumbles a few seconds before dropping it. "Sorry about that kid. And I'm done." Ethan slides past Stiles. "I've been meaning to ask,  
do you work here?"

Stiles sighs as he answers and follows Ethan out. "First of all, not a kid. I'm twenty-three. Second, I don't work here. I just know the employees because I come here so often and they showed this place to me." There's a spike in his heart beat when he says the second part. Why would he lie about that?

"Hmm, you're a year younger than me." Ethan glances at Stiles. "You don't work here?" He asks again.

"I don't work here!" No change in his heart beat that time.

"Okay, okay. Got it." They walk through the employees only door back into the store. Thank god. He can finally finish with the shopping. He looks towards Stiles, planning on saying his farewell, and notices him inching closer to Ethan. The sour tinge of fear and the tang of nervousness is back. He follows Stiles stare and sees a few hunters idling at the end of an aisle. They're completely ignoring the two of them but Stiles is acting like they have weapons pointed at them. 

Stiles turns back to Ethan with a strained smile. "Ethan, you seem like an interesting guy." He forces out. "Would you mind if we shopped together? I'd like to know why you had a dick on you're face." 

Ethan looks back to the hunters, who disappear into an aisle, then back to Stiles. "Alright." He says slowly. "Sure. If you're 'friend' won't mind." Stiles eyes widen like he forgot about _Scotty_. 

"Shit." He laughs forcefully. "I should call him. Thanks for reminding me, guy- er, uh, Ethan." He pulls out his phone and dials and waits for the call to connect. 

"Stiles?" Scotty muffled answers comes through.

"Hey, man. Where you at now?" 

"I just parked." 

Stiles lets out a relieved sigh. "Okay, I'll meet you up front, bro." 

"Meet you there." Scott hangs up. Stiles stares at his phone for a moment, looking torn before releasing a deep breath.

"I think you better ska-daddle. You do not want Scott to see you." Stiles shoves his phone in his pocket and moves to leave. "Nice meeting you, Ethan. Seriously. Have fun with the rest of your shopping." 

"Thanks for the help, kid." Ethan waves and sees a flicker of annoyance on Stiles face when he turns to wave back. He watches Stiles until he disappears behind an aisle leaving only the scent of ozone and books. 

Well, that was interesting. Ethan looks for his cart and takes out his shopping list. _Stiles_. What a strange name. He begins the search for each item, then finally, after an hour and a half, he finishes.  
When he's checking out, the lady gives him a strange look while scanning his stuff; Ethan forgot to take out the boxes of condoms the kid left. He stares at all eleven packages until he makes a quick decision to just buy them (they _are_ on the list).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there's Ethan. I went through this quickly so excuse any mistakes or whatev's.
> 
> I'm going to try to update every week, but I don't have internet 'cause I live out in the middle of nowhere~ haha
> 
> wanna guess who's next?
> 
> Stop by my [tumblr](http://diigis.tumblr.com)!


	3. Aiden

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry!

Aiden decides he's the best person in the world. Really. He is. 

After Ethan finished shopping, it turns out he forgot to buy toothpaste. Toothpaste! Ethan remembers to buy eleven boxes of condoms (that don't even fit) but it slips his mind that the pack might need toothpaste.

Ethan is working with Derek today, so Aiden decided to take time out of his day to buy the stuff. Because he's the best person in the world.

He drives to the nearest grocery store and prepares himself. He's going to run in, grab the toothpaste, and run out. He succeeds in running in and even gets as far as grabbing six tubes of toothpaste and a handful of toothbrushes, but the "running out" part is stopped by a whole lot of people crowding the registers. There are only four workers in the front, and there are at least a eight people in each lane. 

Aiden searches for a lane and spots a line that seems to have the least amount of people (six people). He's standing for a minute or two before his patience runs out. Where are all the other workers? Gross. The smell of so many humans squished together is overbearing. And the noise. He could go deaf with the amount of whining happening. Then there are the coughs and sneezes that are disgusting as fuck. Thank god werewolves can't get sick.

Ten minutes later and Aiden is finally third in line. There are more people behind him talking about their problems... loudly. One guy is cheating on his wife, a lady is arguing with her mother about marriage, and a baby is screaming like it's in pain. Aiden's actually getting a bit worried about it- wait... the parents finally stopped arguing and are focusing on the baby. The dull scent of tears finally fade into the others public building smells.

Crying babies are the worst. They make Aiden feel guilty even though he didn't do anything. Their chemo-signal could knock a guy out, too. Man. Babies are scary. 

_tap-tap-t-t-tap_

The guy in front of him is tapping away on his phone- holy shit it's annoying. 

"Excuse me, sorry, sorry!" A voice breaks through. "Ah, my friend is right up there. Can I get through? Excuse me." 

Aiden glances back and sees a kid pushing through the line and avoiding every hand and elbow in the process. Except the baby, which grabs his flannel by the collar. 

Hah.

The kid lets out a _gah_ then spins awkwardly to avoid wrenching the baby's arm. The baby keeps a strong grip on the shirt and reaches for the kid's hair. A loud squawk from the kid finally brings the parents attention to the situation. They pry the little fingers off and the baby sucks in a deep breath, the kind that signals a screaming bawl. Aiden moves to cover his ears, but before the little bomb goes off, the kid leans in close rubs his thumb along the baby's chubby cheek. 

Amazingly, the baby just stares wide eyed up at the kid. The smell of tears fads and something cuts through making Aiden sneeze. What was that?

"Excuse me. Ohmygod, dude, can you move? Ow!" Aiden sees the kid scrunching up his nose and wiping his watering eyes. "Ow, ow, ow. Excuse me..." He slides past two more people and Aiden moves to the let the kid though, smiling as they make eye contact.

"Hey! Etha- Wait." The kid squints up at Aiden and frowns. "You're not Ethan. Cool, twins." The kid grins stupidly.

The hell. Aiden's nose tingles and the air has a sweet tinge to it. His hair stands on end and the smell seems to push every other scent away. He sneezes again.

"I _am_ Ethan." Aiden smirks. How could he tell them apart?

"No, you're not." the kid frowns and shakes his head; his heartbeat steady. "You're brother had a dick on his face yesterday. It was hilarious." The kid smiles up at him again. 

"Oh my god, Stiles." A voice speaks up. "Not in public." Aiden glances behind him and sees the guy who was annoyingly tapping on his phone looking at the him and the kid. 

"I'm Stiles." The kid waves. " And that's my bro, Danny. I met you're brother yesterday and we totally became best friends." Stiles sets his stuff into Danny's cart and leans against it. "Wait. He's a werewolf! Couldn't he smell it or something? Sharpie fumes are intense. Oh, what's your name?" Stiles tilts his head a fraction.

"I'm Aiden. And there are special markers made for creatures with sensitive noses. It's nearly scent less, unless you're actually smelling for it."

How did he tell us apart?

"Oh, _Scenties_ , right?" Stiles laughs. "What a lame name." 

"We're moving, Stiles." Danny pushes the cart forward and starts setting his groceries on the checkout counter. "Grab the vegetables first." He orders. 

"Heh. Yessir." Stiles salutes. 

"So, Stiles." Aiden watches as Stiles and Danny transfer their things. The cashier finishes scanning everything while Danny scans a card. "How could you tell us apart?" He tries to ask nonchalantly. 

Stiles simply smirks at him. "The two of you are really different, like, an oatmeal raisin and a chocolate chip."

"Oat...meal and... chocolate?" 

Danny pulls their cart forward and loads it. "He means you two look the same but one of you is nasty as fuck and the other he's allergic to."

"What!" Stiles gasps. "No, you look the same on the outside but are made completely different. Oh my god, Danny." He huffs.

"Okay, you said a lot but didn't actually answer my question." Aiden starts.

"Ahh, look at that." Stiles loads the last bag quickly and pushes the cart and Danny away from the counter. "You're next. I'll see you later. Have an _amazing_ day, Aiden." He grins one last time as he disappears, leaving the faint scent of paper and something sweet.

Aiden watches the tuffs of Stiles hair bob up and down in the crowd. Simply watching him is exhausting.

"Sir? uh, Sir?" The cashier person captures his attention. "You can slide your card now."

"Woah. Yeah." Aiden hears the grumbling of the other customers as he slides his card. He looks back at them, flashing his eyes. They'd be stupid to not know what his blue eyes mean. "Sorry, ladies and gentlemen." There are various gasps and the sour tinge of fear rises. He sends them one last smirk before grabbing his things and leaving.

## ****

"Ethan, guess what." Aiden is sitting at the breakfast bar, eating lunch. Ethan ignores him as he builds himself a sandwich. "Hey, Ethan, hey hey hey, Ethan. Ethan. Hey, ETHAN! ETHAAANN!" Aiden grabs an apple and throws it at Ethan's head. The apple hits its target with a muted thwack sound. 

"What the hell do you want!?" Ethan growls. 

"There's a piece of lint on your hair." Aiden smiles innocently while dodging a watermelon. What the. "Where did you get that?" He pauses, waiting for Ethan to answer. Ethan's still glaring so Aiden continues. 

"Actually, I meant to say some other thing but you were being annoying-"

"I was being annoying!" Ethan squawks.

"-so I had to retaliate. Anyway, that kid you ran into, the condoms kid. What was his name again?" 

Ethan glares again. "Stiles. Why?"

Aiden nods. So it was the same person. He doubts anyone else would name their kid Stiles. "I met him today while getting the toothpaste."

"I told you. He's weird, right?"

"He's not... normal." Aiden takes a big bite, chewing with his mouth open. Nothing is better than annoying Ethan. "He smells, not good, but weird. Like fuzzy." Ethan stare disgustingly at Aiden before answering.

"It's electricity. The hair standing on end, the warmth, and the sweetness; it's ozone and electricity. And it's definitely not normal. He's pretty interesting." Ethan avoids eye contact and his eyes jump around.

Hmm. _Interesting_. "Stiles is pretty cute, huh." Aiden grins widely watching as his brother pinks. 

"Shut up." Ethan spits out as he leaves with his food. "And he has a boyfriend."

"Don't be embarrassed." Aiden smirks. "Nothing wrong with having a crush. Even if he is taken."

_Poor guy_ , Aiden thinks. Some brotherly meddling might be needed. He grins to himself thinking of all the plans he can make.

He can't wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Accept my apologies, Sempai!  
> I meant to put up three chapters but I ended up almost completely rewriting this chapter so now I have to change the rest and ugh  
> Anyway, I didn't know how to write Aiden hah :D
> 
> Enjoy, I guess. welp, that's all folks
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://diigis.tumblr.com)!  
> Stop by and... what evs


	4. Jackson

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whut whut! :)

Jackson rolls his eyes at no one when his phone vibrates for the fifth time in the past minute. He pulls out his phone and sees that all of them are from Lydia.

**_Lydia: What do you mean?_ **

**_Lydia: Jackson?_ **

**_Lydia: wtf Jackson. you can't just say something like that, in a text, and not respond._ **

**_Missed call from Lydia._ **

**_Lydia: Answer your damn phone_ **

Dammit. He was hoping Lydia would be graceful, like she is in everything else, and not make a big deal about this. It's one of the reasons he asked her out in the first place. Being a Banshee, she understands first hand the importance of public image and discretion. 

Might as well call her before she decides to assassinate him or something.

She picks up after the first ring. "Jackson."

"Lydia." 

"Please explain to me why the hell you decided breaking up over a fucking text would be at all acceptable." Lydia speaks softly and slowly, just like she would if she were talking to a child. 

"Lydia," he sighs, "I thought you, too, had realized that our relationship was going nowhere and it was becoming a chore to stay together." 

"Okay, I understand that the relationship was falling apart and all we had was angry sex, but Jackson," her voices starts to get stronger, "you do not text me simply saying 'hey, babe, I'm breaking up with you.'" She's nearly shouting by the end and Jackson has to hold his phone away from his ear to avoid hearing damage. She is a banshee.

"Alright, alright. Message received. I won't end it over a text with you ever again." He placates. "Oh, can you bring my stuff over to the big house?" 

Lydia's dead quiet for a several seconds before she speaks. "You want me to bring all your junk all the way out there? If you want your shit, meet me at the bookstore tomorrow afternoon with my things."

"Fine." Jackson agrees.

"Oh, and Jackson. Don't be late." She says before hanging up. 

"Dammit." He grumbles under his breath. He didn't have anything special planned tomorrow but, still, having to listen to Lydia even though they aren't dating anymore hurts.

## *****

Jackson has been inside the _bookstore_ only a handful of times. All of them when Lydia managed to drag him in with her to pick up an order. She always orders through the store, rather than the internet, because she's close with the owner and he gets her insane discounts.

Jackson has never seen the owner. Whenever Jackson and Lydia stop by, instead of bringing the order out, Lydia goes to the back room. Considering Lydia likes to show off how attractive she and Jackson are together, it's strange Jackson hasn't met him. He has been introduced to most of Lydia's friends and even her parents one day. But strangely, Lydia never introduces them. It's always bothered him for some reason. For awhile she mentioned the owner only occasionally. She would speak of him fondly, if slightly exasperated, and complain about his "cute face". For nearly a year, the only things Jackson knew about the guy were: his age (they bought his gift for his twenty third birthday, his job, and his scent. Lydia would always return from the back room with another scent that added to her own sweet fragrance. It wasn't as sugary as Lydia's and it sent tingles down his spine. It gave off more of a feeling than a smell. 

Anyway, that was all he knew of the mysterious owner. That is, until, one evening, the two were having dinner at her place and Lydia drank more than she normally did. She was flushed and would lose focus once in a while. Jackson tried to take the bottle of wine from her, but, of course, no one can deny Lydia what she wants. Once the wine was depleted, she moved to the couch and stretched out. She was quiet for awhile as her scent became heated with anger. Her silence ended with a silent curse to "all things with evil intentions toward her adorable as fuck friends". 

Jackson, being the gracious boyfriend that he is, asked her about her troubles. She responded by sitting cross-legged and pulling Jackson onto the couch with her. She pouted for awhile before she answered. Apparently, her friend has been targeted by hunters and supernatural creatures alike, and it's taken it's toll. He now has problems with his mental health. At this point, Jackson finds the owner interesting enough to ask more about him, but Lydia is off the couch and pacing around the room. She curses both hunters and the creatures, using colorful swear words that aren't even English. 

Eventually, she calms down and arrives at the second stage of her drunkenness. Meaning she gets frisky as hell. Before their relationship, Jackson would've been on her the second she showed interest. However, during the early days of their dating period, he met Lydia's friend, Danny. 

Danny seemed like a cool guy. They met at a small get-together and their friendship came easy. Lydia was happy (if slightly buzzed) which meant Jackson and Danny were happy. By the time the event was over, Lydia was flushed and leaning heavily on his shoulder. As they were leaving, Jackson helped Lydia into her seat, and walked over to where Danny was waiting. He was expecting to get an invite to hang out; instead, Danny gave him a cold smile and a warning. If he did anything to Lydia while she was unable to consent properly, Danny would personally make his life a living hell. Jackson nervously promised nothing would happen and left without a single thought of sex. He took Lydia home, accepted a sloppy kiss goodnight, then drove back to his place. 

The next day, a hungover Lydia sent him Danny's number and that was the beginning of their friendship. As Jackson got to know Danny more, he understood exactly how frightening Danny can be when pissed off (not that he'd ever admit it). And Jackson has first person experience on the lengths Danny will go to protect his friends. 

It'll probably be weird between him and Danny for awhile. Although they've become close friends over the year, Danny was Lydia's friend first and cares far more about Lydia than he does Jackson. He's accepted it.

Jackson isn't late. He walks in at exactly twelve o'clock wincing when the high-pitched chime rings above him. The store's part-timer, Tyler, is stacking shelves and calls out a welcome before noticing it's Jackson.

Jackson met Tyler on their first day working for the bookstore. He remembers the excited scent wafting off of them when Jackson asked for a book recommendation. Jackson remembers asking what he thinks of the owner and Tyler nervously telling him about it being his first day so he doesn't have an opinion yet. Then Lydia comes out of the back room, she greets Tyler warmly and refers to Tyler as 'they'. Tyler turned out to be a funny, if slightly loud, and always welcomed Jackson with a book recommendation. The books were always fantasy with an noticeable lack of romance, which was refreshing.

Today, Tyler hesitantly walks over to Jackson.

"Good afternoon," they glance at the box in his arms. "Do you need help with anything?" 

"No, thanks, just waiting for Lydia." Jackson subtly sniffs the air and doesn't smell any evidence that Lydia's been here recently. "Is she here?" He asks anyways. 

"Not yet." Tyler shakes his head. "Do you wanna sit down while you wait? There are some comfy seats in the back?" 

He's never been invited to the back room before. Jackson simply inferred that only employees (and Lydia) are allowed back there.

"Yeah, that'd be great." He nods. Tyler smiles politely and leads the way. They're reaching for the doorknob when it's jerked open and a wave of the owner's scent hits him. A guy in a black apron is standing in the way and glaring at Jackson. 

"Hello, asshole." The guy starts. "Nice to finally meet you." He turns to Tyler and smiles gently. "Thanks, Tyler. You can take your lunch break, if you'd like."

Tyler looks between the two before removing their own apron and throwing it onto a shelf. "Yes, of course. I'll be an hour." And they're rushing out of the store. Jackson takes in the gawky man standing in front of him. His dark hair is disheveled and his cheeks are bright against his pale skin. He's taller than Jackson thought he would be. He doesn't know what he was expecting, but this guy isn't it. 

But Stiles did just call him 'asshole' so Jackson might as well live up to his expectations. 

"Who the hell are you?" He asks. He places his box on a convenient empty shelf to his left. Stiles strange scent pushes other smells away and soon, there's a constant tingle across his skin and every hair is standing on end. It's such a strong reaction, he bets even humans would be able sense it.

" _I_ am Stiles, Lydia's _best_ friend, Jerkface." Stiles quickly moves forward and knees Jackson in the stomach.

Jackson lets out a noise of surprise at the same time Stiles grunts in pain (he hit Jackson pretty hard; Jackson almost felt it).

"Ow, shitty shit!" Stiles pulls his knee to his chest as his eyes water. "Ugh, what are your abs made of? Rock? Ugh, I accidentally complimented you." Stiles mutters. 

"I'm a werewolf." Jackson deadpans as he smooths out his shirt. "What did you expect?"

"I know." Stiles kneels down and rubs his knee. "I forgot for a second, okay? With the way Lydia talks about you, sometimes I forget you're a supernatural being with super powers." Then he looks up at Jackson with pink cheeks and glistening eyes. Stiles hair falls into his face when he looks back to his knee and pouts. 

"What-" Jackson takes a step back. He didn't expect this gangly man-child being able to look like _this_. 

"Jackson!" Lydia's shrill voice nearly bursts his eardrums. "What the hell did you do to Stiles?" She drops the box in her arms and hurries to Stiles side. "Are you okay, sweetie?" She pushes the loose hair out of the way and wipes a stray tear. Stiles gives her a small smile and rubs at his eyes.

"I'm fine, _mom_." Stiles mutters as he stands with her help. Then all of Lydia's attention is fixed back onto Jackson. 

"You can take your things and leave now, Jackson." Lydia orders and murmurs under her breath. "Before you hurt anyone else." 

"What?! I didn't do that. He kneed me in the stomach and hurt himself." Jackson growls while gesturing at Stiles. "And I was going to leave anyway." He smells a spike of sadness then he _tastes_ Stiles sweet scent with a strong hint of metal. The tingling feeling intensifies until it's a stinging pain making him flinch. 

Stiles steps back with wide eyes and stutters. "I-I'm sorr- no- Uh- I- I didn't- shit." Lydia reaches for him, but Stiles stumbles into the back room and slams the door. Lydia stares at the door for a moment taking a deep breath. 

"Lydia? What just happened?" He manages to get out. She glares daggers at him and steps into his space menacingly. 

"Today, you and I decided to meet here to return our things. You arrived a couple minutes before me so you waited in the front after Tyler left for their lunch break. Then I arrived and we traded our boxes and you left. That's it. Nothing out of the ordinary has occurred today and you did NOT meet Stiles. It is _vital_ that you forget what happened today. Please, don't ever mention Stiles to anyone." She walks around him to grab her box off the shelf. 

Jackson sincerely thinks about what he's going to do. Lydia never begs, ever; this is probably the closest she has ever come to the dreadful act. And even though their romantic relationship is officially over and he isn't obliged to follow her every whim, he still cares for her. There's more going on here than meets the eye, and it's unlikely he'll get the whole story any time soon. But despite popular belief, Jackson isn't a heartless bastard. He knows how to keep a secret and this particular secret isn't any different. 

"Alright." He speaks as Lydia raises her hand to knock on the backroom door. "Nothing happened, and I only saw Tyler stacking shelves before you came in, then we exchanged boxes." He takes a step back, his foot knocking into the box Lydia brought. "I didn't meet anybody else and nothing happened." He swoops down to grab the box ignoring the dents that on any other day, Jackson would've complained about.

As he stands, Lydia turns to face him, her expression the painted on mask she uses for dealing with strangers. 

"Well, thank you for bringing my things, Jackson. I appreciate it, really. I'll see you around." She waves.

"Yeah, see you around." Jackson calls back as he leaves the store. He place his things on the passenger seat and starts his car. When he grips the steering wheel and notices dark burn marks around his fingertips and wrists that are slowly healing. Lydia knows a diverse group of people and personalities, and Stiles may be the strangest of them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo, two chapters in a week, yay
> 
> Jackson, i don't know, he's Jackson.
> 
> My goal has become to make you ship stiles with everybody. Just decided this, right now.  
> if you can't tell, I really like the name Tyler
> 
> Anyway, I have a [tumblr](http://diigis.tumblr.com)!  
> Come by and do stuff


	5. Cora (Pt. 1)

Cora walks through the front door and is hit with an overwhelming wave of vanilla and cinnamon. She methodically takes off her shoes and hangs her coat as she changes to breathe through her mouth. With her bag still hanging from her shoulder, she moves to the kitchen and takes in the flour covered counters, spilled milk, and smashed eggs. On the stove top, there are pots bubbling, and there's something in the oven smoking.

Malia must be cooking today. 

A few months before, the pack decided to place Malia on the cooking circuit. They didn't do it before simply because Malia has lived as coyote for a majority of her life and as such, doesn't have any culinary skills to speak of. But, she recently showed interest in cooking, and she asked to be of help. It's good that Malia is showing willingness to be pack. She joined nearly six years ago, but her coyote nature has made it difficult for her to feel the pack bonds that should have solidified her first year with them.

So, it's great that Malia is cooking, but _Malia is cooking_. 

Cora leaves the kitchen to run upstairs and put her stuff away. Excluding Malia, she doesn't hear anybody else in the house. And after a closer listen, she doesn't hear anyone outside either. All of their cars are outside, so the rest of the pack must be with Derek. It's nearly six, which is usually the time Derek lets them off. With that in mind, Cora quickly changes her clothes and hurries back to hopefully salvage dinner.

Downstairs, Cora can't help but stand and watch as Malia hovers nervously over the pots, occasionally lifting a lid then replacing it. It's adorable, really. Malia is child-like, and Cora, unwillingly, feels a kind of "maternal" protectiveness over her. Not that Cora would ever admit it. The two are in the same age group, and it sort of weirds her out.

After a few more seconds of struggling, Malia finally looks over at her with a pleading look in her eye and Cora has no choice but to step in. 

"What are we making today?" Cora rolls up her sleeves hoping it isn't anything too difficult. She walks up to the stove and lowers the heat on the pots and turns off the oven.

"Well, I started with cookies, then I tried to make a soup I saw on TV the other day but..." Malia pointedly looks at the biggest pot on the stove. A quick sniff tells Cora it's _probably_ chicken soup, but it's a weird brown color and mostly smells of cinnamon.

"And the other one?" 

"That is my second try," Malia peeks into the pot and turns to Cora, surprised. "And I don't think it's that bad." 

There's that happy momma feeling again. Cora looks away resisting the urge to praise with motherly affection before tuning back in to Malia's voice.

"I'm getting the hang of this cooking stuff." Malia beams.

"Good." Cora lets out sharply. "Now, the cookies. Did you follow a recipe?" 

"Yup," Malia dusts a spot of counter especially covered in flour and unearths a sheet of paper. "This one." Cora takes it, reads the heading, and realizes Malia couldn't have chosen a more complicated cookie to bake. It's a fucking macaroon. 

"Why did you take out the flour? It's not on the ingredients list." She asks curiously.

"I didn't know that until after I had the flour out, so I just left it." Malia shrugs. 

"And I'm guessing the same with the milk." Cora moves around the large island to grab the garbage can, and sweeps the flour into it, a little sad it's going to waste. "Lia, grab a paper towel to clean off the eggs." As they're cleaning, Cora watches over the soup, adding a few things. 

After the last dirty dish is washed and the kitchen is mostly clean, Cora takes out a simple chocolate chip recipe from their reserves of cook books. 

"Lia, I'm going to show you how to make a chocolate chip cookie. It's pretty simple."

Malia gets a serious look on her face as she nods. "Let's do it." 

Cora skims the ingredients list, then reads the instructions out-loud, occasionally pausing to explain a term or phrase. When she finishes, she has Malia make the cookie dough herself while she makes multiple sides to have with dinner. Malia doesn't have any problems with the mixing, and by the time the cookies are placed in the oven, the rest of dinner is finished. 

As they set the table and clean up a bit, Cora hears the rest of the pack talking excitedly outside. She looks out the kitchen window just in time to see them all walk out of the trees, covered in dirt and twigs, laughing.

"How long until the cookies are done?" Cora asks, still watching the pack. When Malia doesn't answer, Cora glances back into the kitchen. "Well?"

"I forgot to put the timer on." Malia rushes with her eyes lowered. She's hunched over and it pulls at Cora's _feelings_ again. Before she knows what she's doing, Cora rubs her hand along the back of Malia's neck, scenting her, then flicks her forehead. 

"No problem. We'll just need to check on it in a few." 

"Oh my god, what smells so good!" She hears someone yell as the back door is thrown open. The entire pack can be heard piling into the mud room, trying to put their shoes away all at the same time. 

"Isn't it Malia's turn to cook?" Someone whispers.

Derek is the first to walk into the kitchen, followed closely by Boyd. He walks up to lean against the island as Boyd sits on the stool right next to the alpha. The rest of the pack follows and crowds around the island, shoving each other and generally being stereotypical werewolves. Cora rolls her eyes and leans her hip against an open space of counter. Children.

"Alright," Malia grabs arms and shoulders and pushes everybody out of the kitchen. "Hurry and wash up. Dinner is waiting." At the prospect of food, Erica and Liam shoot up the stairs to get first dips on the bathrooms. Everyone else (Isaac, Aiden, Ethan, and Jackson) follow at a slightly more violent pace to try to beat them. There are a few thumps and bangs and growls but they eventually settle down. Derek leaves to use his en suite, letting Boyd use the bathroom on the first floor. Peter, who had been watching from the eat-in kitchen area, stands and stretches.

"Getting old, Uncle Peter." She calls. She lets a smirk slide on to her face, the one she practiced to look just like Peters. 

"Nobody's complaining." He leers. "And how old are you this year? Twenty-five? Twenty-six?" 

Cora glares at him as he leaves to change into a different set of douche clothes. She doesn't like getting old. Nobody does, but Cora especially doesn't like it. Even though werewolves pretty much don't age like humans and she'll look like a teenager for another ten years, most likely, she still doesn't want it to happen. 

Cora sighs, exhausted by interacting with them, and checks on the cookies. "Lia," she gestures for her to look. "See how they're still light colored? When they start turning a little brown on the sides, that's when you know they're done."

"Oh," Malia nods. "I see. So how much longer?" 

"Five to eight minutes, give or take." Cora gently closes the oven door. Stomping down the stairs, Isaac runs into the dining room, changed and with damp hair, and taps the table.

"Woo!" He pants. There's a quickly healing bruise on his cheek. "First place." 

"What do you want to drink, loser?" Malia calls to him. She gets a water bottle for herself and a beer for Isaac and sets them on the table. Boyd walks into the kitchen and grabs two bottles of water then follows them to the dining table down. The rest of the pack trail in grabbing their own drinks and sitting in their seats. Cora checks the cookies one last time and decides their ready. She takes them out and sets them on a cooling rack before calling Malia over to point out colors and texture. She leaves them to cool then grabs herself a drink and sits with the pack.

Derek is sitting at the head of the table, discussing pack business with Peter in quiet whispers when Cora sits. He's the first to fill up his bowl and plate, signaling to everyone that they can eat.  
The rest of dinner is filled with praise for Malia's first successful dinner and the delicious cookies. It's the entire pack together, being family and enjoying each others presence. Cora really likes the moments, a lot. She loves the feeling of belonging; it replaces the parts in her that have been empty and cold for years. Derek is showing one of his genuine smiles, the smile he used to give freely, and Uncle Peter is actively trying not to emotionally scar anyone. She feels a burst of warmth up her stomach into her throat, and it's overwhelming, but nice... 

Actually, Cora _hates_ it. She hates it as much as she loves and misses it. It pulled at memories and phantom sensations. It's painful.

She ignores the sudden sorrow and hurt that stabs through her chest. She lets herself bathe in the fluffy, light feelings of pack and focuses on the tight strings of their bonds connecting to each other. She shuts her eyes and lets the reassurance and comfort that follow wash over her and push the painful feelings away. 

"Hey, Cora." Isaac calls.

She opens her eyes. "Yes, Isaac." She leans against her hand with her elbow on the table.

"I'm not going to be able to come in tomorrow." He bites into a cookie. "I'm taking the afternoon patrol while Peter goes out of town." Isaac continues. 

Erica has been working for the last month, without any off days, and she'll be helping Derek for a week or two, so she can't work tomorrow. And everybody else in the pack will also be with Derek. Besides Liam, who has an early morning class tomorrow.

Cora has worked alone before and it's also Wednesday, the least busy of the week days. Maybe she'll get Liam to help out a bit. It should be fine.

"Alright." She nods.

## ****

Cora yawns, her jaw aching with the stretch. The crisp morning air chases away the sleepiness as she gets in her car. Sometimes, she regrets opening a bakery. Everyday she gets up early to bake and because she's alone today, she's responsible for not only the baking, but also setting out the samples, writing the menu, and taking orders.

It takes her fifteen minutes to drive to the small bakery/café in town. She spends the time thinking of what to set out that day. She's craving some banana bread right now, so that'll be today's free sample. For the tea sample, White Peach Tea because it's her favorite.

She's thinking of the special (it's between a roasted tomato soup or an avocado sandwich thing) when she pulls into the back parking and heads inside. She sets her bag and keys in the break room before switching the lights on, turning on the heat, and warming the ovens. She decides on the avocado sandwich thing, and gets ready to bake. With her apron on and her hair tied tight, she begins mixing and kneading and chopping. After placing her dough in the oven, she prepares the tea, and turns the computer on. Then she continues to make the muffins, cookies, cakes, and pies that are always on the menu. 

The timer for her second batch of muffins rings at nearly the same time a knock on the door scares the shit out of her. She hurries to unlock the store because she _forgot_ to do it when she started baking. She never opens the store, the same way she never writes out the menu or talks with customers. Thankfully, it's just Stiles and Scott outside, and they won't be annoyed with her for not showing "proper customer service", or whatever. 

Stiles waves at her through the window with mittens on his hands. He's wearing a light jacket and a knitted sweater underneath with a knitted slouchy hat that has a huge pom. Behind him, Scott's on his phone and based on the silly grin on his face, he's talking to Allison. _He's_ only wearing a button-up shirt today. It's nearly April, and the weather is more than warm enough for a wolf, or any were-creature, but Cora forgets that humans (read: Stiles) are more sensitive to the cold. She waves back, and opens the door for them, flicking Stiles pom when he passes through.

"Morning." Scott says over his shoulder when he passes through.

"Cora Hale, you glorious being, thank you for your service and sacrificing your sleep for the sake of spreading the joys of baked goods." Stiles throws his things onto an empty table and sits. He leans his head on the table and lets out a groan. "Are the muffins finished? I'm ready for something good in my life."

Scott sits across from Stiles and takes off his hat to pat his head. "Oh, _sweetie_. Poor you." He coos. "No, Stiles isn't feeling good." He says into his phone.

"Tough morning?" Cora pats his head. He has pat-able, soft hair. "And, yes. I have some muffins cooling right now." She changes the "closed" sign to open, and sets the chalk board sign (the one Erica insisted was absolutely necessary) in front of the store. Inside, she returns to the kitchen with a sleepy Stiles following her. She pulls the muffin pan out of the oven and slides in a few bread loaves. 

Stiles groans again and flops against the fridge, finally answering. "It's been a long _week_. Scotty is being weird and Lydia is being weird, and everybody is being weird." He rests his forehead on the cool door and his frustration fills the room. "I'm actually the not weird one this week."

"Don't worry, Stiles. You smell weird." She consoles. "I'll make you a sandwich and tea, if you write the specials." She hands him a sheet of paper with a list of items. 

"Yes, ma'am." 

The frustration follows him and soon enough the kitchen is back to smelling buttery and warm. She prepares Stiles' favorite sandwich easily and the tea is prepared already, so she wraps the sandwich and takes her finished products out. Stiles is drawing little figures on the board when she walks in and Scott is still on his phone. She walks behind the counter and sets the sandwich down and begins placing her baked goods in the display shelves. 

While she's setting the banana bread in a line, Cora feels Stiles intense stare burning the top of her head. He definitely wants a poppy seed muffin. She continues and ignores him until she finishes setting up.

"Where's Isaac today?" Stiles asks when she finally gives in and hands one to him.

"He and Erica are working for the pack today. Liam should actually be here in..." Cora checks her phone. 9:00. "Thirty-minutes." She pulls out a paper cup and makes his tea.

"Liam? Is he the one- Wait, what time is it?" He pulls out his phone and gasps at the same time Cora answers him. "Shit. Scott! I'm going to late!" He flails as Scott quickly ends his call. 

"We gotta go!" Scott grabs Stiles' stuff and hurries to the door.

"Well, get going." She slides Stiles' tea over and he drops some cash into the tip jar. "Don't make your employees wait." She leans across the counter and accepts a quick peck on the cheek.

"Cora Hale, you are a life saver. " He winks as he rushes out and calls out over his shoulder. "We'll be around for lunch!" Then they're both disappearing in the direction of Stiles' little shop. They're is so exhausting to watch. 

She wipes the counters then checks the ovens. She takes the finished bread loaves out to cool and slides sheets of cookies in. She hears the door open and multiple people walking in, signaling the beginning of her day. 

Sighing, Cora pushes her slipping sleeves up and prepares herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I'm completely lazy and unmotivated and that's it  
> Only half of this chapter was "finished", soooo I just decided to go with it, yep  
> I have no idea where I'm going with this...
> 
> Omg, the season finale, anybody else, just explode, like, "what?" and I wonder what the show will do with the people who saw Scott being wolfy.
> 
> Cora (or the Hales, in general) are totes tsundere. Cora and the Hales sounds like an indie folk pop band lol I don't know where I'm going with this... 
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://diigis.tumblr.com)!  
> Shoot me a message, or something, I'm open to anything. Literally, anything and everything. (except stalking, of course, which isn't fun and _is_ terrifying)

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that's a start. I hope you like'd it. :)  
> Especially you, Tyler haha  
> i don't know any tylers haha
> 
> Okay, sooo, _were-_ is the term for any were-animal.  
>  Supernatural things are higher up on the social hierarchy, humans get mad about it sometimes. And some supernatural species are royalty-like. *winky face*  
> Anyway, I meant for this to be, like, a chapter or two, but I already have five chapters written and there are more to come.  
> Polish is a language and I'm bad at language. I apologize now for any inaccuracies.
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://diigis.tumblr.com)!  
> Come by and visit and have some apple pie or nogitsune gifs or, idon'tknow, porn?


End file.
